News

U.S. Magistrate Clifford Shirley has responded to some of the motions filed in the trial against former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, who was indicted in May on seven charges of misprision of a felony. Shirley suggested in a written filing late last week that certain evidence against Baumgartner should be allowed in court. WBIR has more

The Tennessee Supreme Court has been asked to appoint a special judge to oversee a $9.9 million lawsuit filed against Sullivan County by county sheriff Wayne Anderson. All local chancery and circuit judges recused themselves. Anderson is seeking additional resources to fund the county jail and sheriff’s office as, according to him, he is charged to do by state law. On the defense side, the county attorney also has stepped aside, saying it is a conflict of interest to represent one agency of the county against another. The Times News has more

Lightning struck the Henderson County Criminal Justice Complex in Lexington in west Tennessee on Sunday morning, causing damage estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars, the Jackson Sun reports. The strike destroyed the complex's fire alarm system, electronic key system, National Crime Information Center records system and the 911 system.

After serving the 8th Judicial District for more than 33 years, District Attorney General Paul Phillips is retiring from the post, WATE reports. "I think his legacy will be that he helped the children of these counties," said his friend, Charles Herman.

District Attorney General Steve Bebb, the subject of a recent investigative series in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, is speaking out, defending his record and calling allegations of wrongdoing unfounded and politically motivated, telling the Advocate and Democrat that "I have not broken any laws or violated any rules of ethics." He said he is proud of his 10th Judicial District staff, which prosecutes cases in Monroe, McMinn, Polk and Bradley counties. The Chattanooga paper has raised allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and misuse of public money by Bebb and his staff.

Former Tennessee attorney general and judge Paul Summers has been asked to lead an investigation into allegations of misconduct in the 10th Judicial District. Wally Kirby, executive director of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, said he asked Summers to take the lead after current District Attorney Steve Bebb requested a pro tem DA. Bebb has been the subject of a six-day series in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that alleges financial and professional misconduct in his office and the district’s drug task force, and raises questions on procedures used in the seizure of cars and cash. The Cleveland Banner reports

A two-week standoff between the Chattanooga public defender and local criminal court judge that tied up 143 cases ended Tuesday with a one-sentence motion. Ardena J. Garth, public defender for the 11th Judicial District, gave notice yesterday that she is striking all of her motions for recusal effective immediately. The move may break the impass between the two, but the Times Free Press reports that it may not settle the dispute, which has Garth on the record accusing the judge of creating a hostile work environment and questioning his impartiality. Likewise, the judge is on record accusing the public defender's office of poor management, sloppy lawyering and undermining justice. Both parties declined to comment about the recent dispute.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on Monday upheld the conviction of Franklin Delano Jeffries II for transmitting an interstate threat. He appeared in a YouTube video singing a menacing song about Knox County Chancellor Michael Moyers, who was handling Jeffries child custody case at the time. The Jackson Sun has more

Assistant U.S. attorneys Zachary Bolitho and David Lewen allege that former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner lied not only to cover up his mistress' misdeeds but to protect a network of drug pushers, of which he was a part, the News Sentinel reports. Defense attorney Donald A. Bosch said the claims presented at a hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court were outrageous.

Robertson County Circuit Judge Ross Hicks recused himself today in a matter involving a mother who defied his court order, going on the run with her son instead of turning him over into the custody of his father, who she believed was sexually abusing the boy. At the time, an 11-person state investigative team had decided that William Cone, the boys' father, was doing just that but in Hicks' court, Georgia Dunn lost primary custody. Cone was arrested and charged with rape of a child last week, and now Dunn has surrendered to police. Tomorrow she will be back in court to determine whether the felony she is charged with will stand. WSMV reports

Chattanooga defense attorneys were granted several days to work out a compromise in the conflict that has caused a logjam in Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman's courtroom. Public Defender Ardena Garth has sought to have Judge Steelman recuse himself from 150 cases of indigent defendants, saying he has been "venomous" toward her office and is biased against her and her staff. Members of the local chapter of the Tennessee Criminal Defense Attorneys Association offered to look for middle ground in the conflict and hope to have a proposal in the next couple of days, the Chattanoogan.com website reports.

A Johnson City assistant district attorney general, Dennis Brooks, has announced he will seek the Criminal Court, Part II, judgeship in 2014. It is the seat held since 1988 by Judge Lynn Brown. Brooks said he is starting his campaign so early because he has little money to advertise and a lot of work to do getting his name known to approximately 30,000 active voters in the four counties. His printed campaign materials say Brown is "mishandling the job." Johnson City Press has more

Three candidates were chosen today for the 30th Judicial District Criminal Court vacancy when the Judicial Nominating Commission met in Memphis. They are:

• John W. Campbell, deputy district attorney general, 30th Judicial District;
• Dean Thomas DeCandia, special assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of Tennessee; and
• Lawrence J. Laurenzi, federal prosecutor, Western District of Tennessee.

The vacancy was created by the appointment of Criminal Court Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. as U.S. District Court judge for Western Tennessee. The list of three candidates, who are all of Memphis, now goes to Gov. Bill Haslam for a decision. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more

Gussie Vann, a McMinn County man serving time for the rape of his 13-year-old niece, has filed suit against the county claiming that he was held for 48 hours without probable cause and held for 10 months without being allowed to see an attorney in relation to separate charges of murder and incest of his daughter. Those charges ultimately were dismissed by now District Attorney Steve Bebb, who was serving as a judge at the time. Vann was later convicted on the rape charges by a jury. Vann’s lawyer said both Bebb and the prosecutor in the case likely would be immune from civil suit while acting in their official capacity, but that the county could be held liable. The Times Free Press has more

The Tennessee Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal by two death row inmates who claim that changes to the state's lethal injection procedure are unconstitutional. The high court on Monday declined to hear the case brought by Stephen Michael West and Billy Ray Irick. Their attorneys argued that the state's protocol does not contain sufficient safeguards to ensure that condemned inmates don't suffocate while fully conscious, which could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. WATE.com has this AP story.

Claiming that Judge Barry Steelman is biased against her office, Public Defender Ardena Garth filed more motions today asking the judge to recuse himself from cases in which her office is involved. So far, she has filed for recusals in more than 50 cases, beginning last week. Cases are backing up in Steelman's division of Hamilton County Criminal Court, the Chattanoogan reports.

Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood today refused to step aside in the criminal cases involving Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price argued that Blackwood's disgust with the misdeeds of disgraced former Judge Richard Baumgartner, who presided over the trials of the torture slaying defendants, had caused him to lose objectively in the case.

Former Tennessee State Senator John Ford, 70, was released from a federal prison in Mississippi today. Ford, who has been behind bars since 2007, is now at a half-way house in Memphis, NewsChannel 3 reports. He was convicted for his role in undercover investigation called Operation Tennessee Waltz. He was serving 19-and-a-half years following separate corruption convictions in Memphis and Nashville, but an appeals court threw out the Nashville conviction, which shaved several years off his sentence.

On Thursday, the California Assembly passed a bill that would give "juvenile lifers" -- those who killed as juveniles and are serving life in prison without parole -- in that state a shot at freedom. Nationwide, there are roughly 2,500 inmates who fit into this category. "Because their brain is still developing, they have the ability to rehabilitate," said Michael Harris, a senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law. Despite the legal rulings and the legislative activity, some survivors of people killed by juveniles are pushing back and arguing that a life sentence is appropriate punishment for juveniles who commit heinous murders. NewsChannel 5 has this AP story

It has been one year since the "West Memphis 3" reached a plea deal that allowed them to go free and keep proclaiming their innocence of the gruesome 1993 murders of three young boys. They spent nearly two decades in jail. Today, one of them is about to go on a tour with his book, "Life After Death." Another has spent time on the set of "Devil's Knot," an upcoming movie about the case starring Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth. The third is living a quiet life in the trailer park where he grew up near West Memphis. They are all getting used to how different life is from when they were last free. "My greatest piece of technology as a 16-year-old kid was my Super Nintendo," said Jason Baldwin, who was 16 when he was arrested. "Now I've got this thing called the iPhone." The Commercial Appeal reports

Members of the bar and the public are invited to a retirement reception honoring William Paul Phillips, district attorney general for the Eighth Judicial District, Aug. 30 at 3 p.m. The event is set for the White Rock Baptist Church, 2745 Howard Baker Highway in Huntsville. Phillips’ staff is hosting the event, and encourages all "to come say farewell and thank you" for his service to the citizens of Fentress, Scott, Campbell, Claiborne and Union counties over the past 33 years.

Hamilton County Public Defender Ardena Garth has asked Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman to recuse himself or reassign her office's cases to another judge. That followed a Tuesday hearing in which a public defender said the judge was biased against her and other public defenders. Garth filed recusal motions for 11 cases scheduled in Steelman's courtroom Wednesday, the day after the hearing. Transcripts of Tuesday's hearing are being prepared to determine exactly what was said, according to court records. The hearing was continued to Aug. 27 and the recusal/reassignment motions will be addressed that day, after the hearing. Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts spokeswoman Casey Mahoney said Thursday that staff could not recall a recent situation in which a public defender's office sought blanket recusal of a judge on multiple cases. The Times Free Press has more

If former Hawkins County prosecutor Doug Godbee persists with a motion to dismiss his felony official misconduct charge, he may find himself facing nine felony charges instead of one, reports the Kingsport Times News. Godbee has been accused by nine women of requesting, and in some cases receiving, sex in exchange for leniency in drug cases he was prosecuting. He is challenging the indictment on grounds that it violates a 1993 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling that multiple accusations should not be included in one indictment. The prosecutor in the case is a bit baffled by that argument though. “He’s asking us to split them up and charge them individually... If the judge dismisses…we’ll just re-indict on all potential charges.”

The Chattanooga Times Free Press yesterday laid out its case against 10th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Bebb for misusing funds and property acquired through the district’s Drug Task Force. The paper says Bebb has been driving a car seized by the task force though state law that does not allow such use; that he has collected nearly $3,000 in reimbursements for gas, maintenance, and wear and tear on the car; and has used drug task force funds for office parties and meetings.

Judge David Bragg will become the new presiding judge for the Rutherford County Drug Court and DUI Court Programs beginning Sept. 6. Bragg has often been a substitute in the programs for Judge Don Ash, who has taken senior status, the Cannon County Courier reports.